City hoteliers hit back at criticism that Portsmouth’s hotels didn’t come up to scratch.

They refused to recognise the validity of tourism consultant Linda Vijeh when she accused hotels of having the wrong attitude towards their customers, and said her comments were wrong.

John Erskine (pictured), the president of Portsmouth and Southsea Hoteliers’ Association and proprietor of Elms Guest House in Victoria Road, Southsea, said: ‘I’ve never heard of Linda Vijeh and she can’t have visited all of those houses properly in one day.’

He said there was only one way to do an inspection, and that was to stay overnight.

A spokeswoman for the city council said: ‘We pride ourselves on the welcome our visitors get in Portsmouth.’